


tired

by bruises



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Feelings, Heavy Angst, Love, Love/Hate, M/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 05:11:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7253806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bruises/pseuds/bruises
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>based on “i want to care, but i don’t. i look at you and all i feel is tired.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	tired

**Author's Note:**

> spoilers for mitb 2016 below

Dean strikes him from behind - it’s easier that way. Seth looks up at him, eyes glassy and practically begging him not to take this any further. Without thinking twice, Dean slides out of the ring, limbs aching from his earlier match. 

He sees Roman sitting against the announce table with his head cast down. He looks away, ignoring the guilt building up in his gut. Dean shoves the briefcase into the referee's hands and tells him that he's ready to cash in.

The bell sounds in his ears, as if someone rang it right beside his head. Dean springs into the ring, palms hitting the mat hard. Beads of sweat are already starting to form against his skin. He shakes them off, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

He stalks Seth, taunts him. Dean kicks aimlessly at Seth, waiting for some kind of reaction. Without realizing it, Dean already has his arms raised and ready to punch. Seth gets to his feet, stumbles, and lifts his arms, ready to defend himself. Dean looks him over, wonders if he should target Seth’s knee and hurt him, or just get it over with.

He chooses the latter and slams Seth’s face against the ring. It’s quick, but it’s all it takes. Dean pins Seth down, ignoring the harsh breathing from under him. After three long seconds, he gets the title, and suddenly this has all been worth it. The love, the betrayal, the pain. He finally has his hands on the title and it’s _goddamn his_. He earned this.

Seth stays down - one hand held to his head and the other propping his body up. Dean wants to care, wants to feel his heart strings tug just a little because he should probably feel bad. There’s a pang of something in his stomach, but it’s not remorse. He took Seth Rollins and fucking ruined him in front of the whole world, like Seth had done to him a hundred times.

Dean’s on top of the mountain right now - the mountain that Seth built up and up and up. He climbs to the top turnbuckle and holds the title high above his head. Dean won clean and suddenly that's all that matters. His face lights up; people are chanting his name and Roman has thrown his fist high in the air.

He thinks back to last year, when Seth had taken the belt right out from under him. He remembers Seth almost breaking his leg. Back then, Dean would have sworn that Seth whispered a small ‘sorry’ as he smashed Dean’s leg between the folds of a ladder. His knee pads had done nothing to protect him against the steel that buckled under Seth’s weight. Dean had bruises scattered across his skin for weeks. At least he had something to remind him of Seth, something to hold on to. Back when he wanted to be reminded of Seth.

He’s been through worse matches; had so much blood pouring from his head that he blurred his vision. But somehow, Seth ripping the title from his hands and laughing about it felt worse than any death match he’d ever been apart of.

Dean looks back to the ring and sees Seth. He’s pulled his knees up and slung his arms around them. He’s looking at Dean, and Dean is looking at him. Dean wants to feel sorry; he wants to care about how Seth feels and how he's hurting. But he doesn’t.

Dean keeps his eyes trained on Seth, watching him collect himself. Seth keeps the eye contact between them, as if to remind Dean that he's still here. He's waiting for his feelings for Seth to hit him. With a short sigh, Dean looks away from Seth. He feels tired.

After five years of knowing Seth, three years of _loving_ Seth, and two years of hating Seth, Dean feels tired. Seth has worn him out, over and over again, and tired is the only thing he feels.

Dean does laps around the outside of ring, showing his title off to the world. Eventually he makes his way to the titantron and sees the ladders still propped up. So he climbs up, presses all his weight against the top step, and flashes his title once more. 

He's at least fifteen feet in the air, towering over everyone. Dean stays perched there for a moment, listening to his music play around him. He climbs down the ladder when he thinks of the kind of symbolic bullshit that people are going to place on this ladder and his 'rise to the top'.

With his belt wrapped around his waist, Dean walks out of the arena. He leaves Seth all alone in the middle of the ring, because he can, just as Seth had done to him countless times before.

 

**Author's Note:**

> im so proud of dean hes finally the champ. let me know what you think!! // [find me on tumblr](http://ohfemslash.tumblr.com/)


End file.
